The Taxman

Once the taxman lines you up in his/her sights, there is little you can do. Last year my husband cashed in on a pension policy, which is actually not much. A nest egg, but not a large nest egg by any account. The interest he makes off of that policy, which he deposited into a fixed deposit account, earns him enough to pay for his monthly cellphone account with probably enough left over to buy a breakfast or lunch of 100 rand – about 10 U.S dollars. Honestly, the interest from that policy will get you a week’s worth of groceries – if you are frugal. Since he cashed in on that policy, the taxman has been after him and it really makes me mad.

Over ten years ago, he had a whole kidney removed and then six months later he had just over half of the remaining kidney removed because of cancer. He has done quite well since then. There has been no recurrence of cancer. Despite a low kidney function, he has not needed dialysis. Part of the reason he has managed is because he has worked from home, part time. He has been able to choose his work as a Motorcycle mechanic, and can pace himself and rest when he feels tired. Although now, his kidney function has dropped, and he will need to be on dialysis in the next few months, so he really does not need the stress of the taxman on his back.

As a Motorcycle mechanic working from home, especially part time, he has never earned a large amount of money. He has made enough to pay for the petrol/gas for his pick up and small motorbike, enough for weekends away occasionally when he goes fishing or camping and he can help me a little with groceries. We don’t own our own property. My husband’s pick-up is just over 20 years old and he really looks after it, as he does with the small motorbike, which is over 10 years old. Between the two of us and with me working as a nurse, we live within our means. So, at the end of last year, he recieved a notification that he had to fill in a tax return. Because it wasn’t sorted out quickly enough for Sars (the South African Revenue Service) they started imposing a monthly penalty on him, for “non-compliance” – not a large amount, but it adds up every month. Sars would rather people do online “e-filing”, but not everyone is capable of doing that. When I filled in a tax return a couple of years ago, I paid someone I knew to help me. My husband went to the Sars offices in our city, today, but they still try and get you to do it telephonically, even at the offices. My husband refused and told them that was why he made the appointment, to sort it out in person. Anyway, he finally sorted it out. He told them for added measure he is turning 60 soon, this year and once he is on dialysis, he probably won’t work as much, so will earn less and that he doesn’t want to hear from them again! The Sars officer didn’t say much in response, so who knows what will happen next year.

The reason why all of this makes me mad? Because South Africa is a country where so much of our taxes have been squandered by those who “run” South Africa. A country where so many politicians, those working for government entities and municipal officials making the most of often crooked tenders worth millions. I am not saying all government employees are crooked, but too many have been are. Who is responsible for our electricity crisis? Politicians. Yet these politicians get free electricity and many have also claimed expenses back when they installed solar and bought generators. If South Africa was running efficiently, and not facing a total grid blackout this winter, if we had municipalities that were also run efficiently, where we can clearly see where our taxes are going to, maybe I wouldn’t be mad. Yet because our politicians have squandered so much tax money, now Sars are under pressure to squeeze as much as possible out of people who do not earn much and certainly not millions. How about politicians and businesses who also make as much money as they can off the Govt, learn to live within their means? It’s all about living it large for them, living on that gravy train, and not wanting to step off of it, meanwhile this country has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, not to mention our high crime rate and unstable political climate. So many in Govt. are really just con artists, with official positions, but because they are in official positions they continue getting away with their crookery. No wonder people look at Governments around the world as the “elite” who expect the masses to have little and still be happy. No wonder people are fed up.